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I felt a bit embarrassed when I caught the group of kids staring at us and my lack of talent on the ice.

Then Reaper let go of my hand. Oh, no. My arms flailed around aimlessly, and I made the mistake of leaning my weight forwards, slipping and attempting to keep my balance for about ten seconds.

Finally and animatedly, I fell flat on my stomach and slid a couple metres across the ice like a starfish.

Kill me.

The loudest laughter was coming from Reaper who knelt down next to me. “Are you alright?” She gasped, covering her mouth to keep from laughing, but failing miserably.

Pushing myself up, I sat up but couldn’t help my own laughter, joining her at how absolutely ridiculous and dramatic that fall was.

It was hard to breathe between the fall and the laughter.

She kept her hand over her mouth as she laughed and there were little creases at the edge of her squinted eyes.

She glowed so bright and warm at that moment, the ice could have melted around us.

This must be the version of her old self that remained, before her life of violence.

Ria quickly slid on the ice on her knees towards us, catching Reaper’s head as she suddenly collapsed .

“It’s okay. You’re okay.” Ria was out of breath.

My laughing quickly subsided. “What’s happening?”

“When Cel feels strong emotions, it triggers cataplexy,” Ria explained.

Reaper was still laughing, though it was lessening, but her body was completely limp in Ria’s arms.

“It’s why she can’t do her triple anymore. She had an episode in the middle of doing it and injured her knee quite badly.”

“So, what is this cataplexy thing?” I asked, still a bit confused.

Ria gave me a weird look. “She has narcolepsy. Didn’t you know?”

No. But it explained why she falls asleep so randomly and constantly looks tired.

“It’s not a big deal,” Reaper said, though it seemed like it was in fact a big deal as she was quite literally completely immobile. It wasn’t long before she regained her strength and sat back up herself. “Gods,” she groaned, putting her face in her hands.

“You good?” I asked.

She nodded. “Just annoyed.”

Ria laughed, helping Reaper stand again and then both girls helped me as I had no idea how to get up from the ice without slipping back down. Then Ria skated away back to practising her own skills.

After about half an hour, I was able to skate forwards without any assistance and only fell two more times.

Reaper did her own practice with jumps, spins and whatever she felt like.

She was truly captivating when she skated.

Ria was just as good as Reaper and left earlier along with the children and the teacher.

As I returned my skates, Reaper went to the bathroom. The old woman was the last to get off the ice and sat down near me on the bench, taking off her skates. “I haven’t seen her look so lively in years, it’s almost like she’s back to her old self.”

I glanced at the old woman, her greying hair tied up into a tight bun .

“I used to coach Datura when she was younger,” she explained with a grin.

Curiosity got the best of me. “What was she like before?”

Her coach sighed. “Well, she was quite shy, a lot more shy than she is now, and she used to… smile and…” she paused again. “Laugh. I’m not sure what happened when she disappeared and I’m afraid to know, but she’s not really here anymore.”

I knew exactly what she meant. Sometimes, when I caught Reaper before she noticed me, it looked like she was lost in another world.

“So… Thank you for bringing her back.”

“I’m not really doing anything,” I admitted.

“You showed up,” she said. “Her family never came, not even to any of her competitions because, well, you must know the Vicary family, they’re quite busy. So, I’m sure she’s grateful that you came with her.”

I nodded, unsure of what else to say.

“Actually,” she started, “I wanted to ask, there's a man who comes to watch her sometimes.” Her face was etched with concern.

“He has red hair and Datura doesn't say it, but I can see that he makes her uncomfortable. When I asked her about him, she told me he was her guardian. Do you know anything about that?”

“Uncomfortable in what way?” I asked.

The woman shook her head. “I’m not one to jump to conclusions and perhaps I read into it too much, but Datura completely avoids interacting with anyone, even Ria, when he's around and keeps her eyes down.”

So, just like at the restaurant.

“I think if she doesn’t want to talk about it then it’s not my place to say either,” I said. The amount of things this woman had revealed to me about Reaper’s life with me barely asking and we don't even know each other's names .

She pursed her lips. “Well, whatever your relationship is with her, whatever you're doing, thank you.” And with that she left.

Reaper came soon after. “What did she say to you?”

I shrugged. “Nothing, really.”

She eyed the old woman as she left the stadium. “So, where are we going?”

“East side.”

***

We took the train and got off as close as we could to the edge of the forest, the dojo stood just outside of it.

“What is this place?” she asked.

I gestured for her to put her bag down and take off her shoes as we entered. “It’s Niko’s dojo,” I said in a low voice, in case there were still others inside.

“It’s pretty.” She matched my volume, not that hard for her as her voice was naturally soft.

There were two rooms, the first had floors of mats and large windows for walls that faced the forest. The second was a small kitchen and a bathroom at the end.

No one was in the first room, and I slid the door to take a peek at the second to find it also empty.

“It’s just us, that’s good,” I muttered, taking off my tie and tossing it on top of my bag. I sat in the centre of the room, crossing my legs. “Come.”

She sat directly across from me.

“We’re going to train the mind.”

“The mind?” she asked.

I nodded. “Meditation.”

She stood back up and headed for the door.

“Where are you going?”

“This is a waste of time. ”

I sighed, that’s exactly how I acted when Niko took me here the first time. “If you can’t control your mind, you can’t control your body.”

“I can control my body just fine.”

I shook my head. “No,” I started, “I noticed you don’t like to use your left leg.” I concluded that the limp she had was permanent.

“Past injury.”

“And you hesitated before you did your triple jump spin.”

She turned to face me. “It's called an lutz and I’m just thinking about what I’m about to do.”

“Thinking gets you killed.”

“I don’t do it when I’m out there obviously.”

“But there’s a chance you might,” I said, “so let me teach you how to avoid it.”

She folded her arms in front of her chest. “I don’t need you to pick apart every little thing I do.”

“I’m training you, that’s what I’m supposed to do.”

“Well, stop, I’m doing fine.”

Does she know what being trained means? I shook my head, frustrated. “You really can’t handle criticism, can you?”

“I just don’t like being analysed.”

“Alright.” I stood up. “If you can get one hit on me, I will let you walk out of here and admit that I was wrong.” I stepped closer to her. “But if you lose, you will stay, let me properly train you, and start listening to me.”

Reaper stared hard into my eyes. “Lights off.”

I went towards the switch and turned them off. The only source of light came from the window, but it was still quite dark as the Ether Kingdom was drifting directly above us that night .

My eyes adjusted to the lack of light. “Remove all your weapons.”

She did, as I took out my knife, putting it off to the side. We stood in the middle, taking our own stance. “Whenever you’re ready. One hit and you win.”

She attacked. I stepped to the side to avoid her first strike and every strike after. She was good, she knew what she was doing, and there was precision in her blows.

“I admit, you have near perfect technique.” Just as she threw a kick, I grabbed her ankle.

“But you lack in power, confidence, and I would say speed, but let’s be real, no one is faster than me.

” I used my foot to drag her other leg out from under her and she fell onto her back with a grunt.

I got on top of her and held her wrist down. “Done?”

She attempted to kick me off her, but I didn’t budge, instead flipping her over so she was on her stomach and twisted her arm behind her.

She winced at the pressure, but I didn’t care. I waited for her to admit defeat. There was no way out, but she kept her mouth clenched, holding her breath. Stubborn like a Kokkino clansman. “You’re done, Reaper.”

She didn’t respond. I waited a beat before finally releasing and getting off her. She sat up from her spot, out of breath. “How?”

“Because my body is not blocked by my mind. You hesitate, even if it’s for a fraction of a second. If you’re going against an experienced fighter, they’ll pick up on it,” I said. “Since you lost, you have to listen to me now.”

She rolled her eyes but reluctantly did as I told her.

I took a candle from a kitchen cabinet and lit it up between us, four thin pieces of tissues next to me. She sat across from me, mimicking my cross-legged position. I started with the first question. “What are you afraid of, Reaper?”

She squinted at me, suspicious. “What are you afraid of? ”

I already expected her to get defensive, I would be too. “Alright, let’s try this a different way,” I started. “I will ask a question, I’ll answer it first so that you can understand what I mean and then you answer it. Will that make you more comfortable?”

She let out an annoyed breath but nodded.

“What are you afraid of? I am afraid of losing everything,” I admitted. “I've worked too hard to get here and I know that it just takes one wrong move, one misstep, and it could all taken away. Everything I built, all those sacrifices—it would mean nothing… Now, it's your turn.”

Reaper turned towards the door. “Can I skip this question?”

“No.”